Our Easter Getaway!

This past week was Spring Break for us so we went down south to find some warmer weather in Zion's National Park. We had a great time hiking around and spending time together as a family. It was a perfect time of year to be down there. It was a nice sunny 70 degrees most of the time and everything was budding in that pretty light green of spring.

We got one of those handy kiddie packs for Brenna to ride in when we hiked and she loved it (most of the time). She loved looking around and pointing to all the trees and water and playing with rocks. This girl loves to be outside. It was a perfect family trip for us.

We spent Easter weekend down with Brandon's family. We celebrated Grandma Georgie's birthday with all of his family. It was fun to have everyone together. We painted Easter eggs and had an Easter egg hunt. I think Brenna was more interested in being outside than in finding eggs, but she had fun and we had fun watching her and Rachel. Easter is such a great holiday, especially with little kids around. It is one of my favorite days because we get to pause and celebrate all the Savior has done for us. We also get to celebrate springtime and be with family.

Brenna's Favorite Things

It has been quite awhile since our last posting, but instead of just another update I decided to list some of Brenna's favorite things because she is so dang cute and seems to be the center of what we have been doing lately. She is getting so big. We spend a lot of time chasing her around the house and hearing her laugh. It is the best sound in the world. She loves to talk and babble all the time. She is learning new words everyday. We love her so much!!!

Brenna's Top 10 Favorite Things:

1. Her Minnie Mouse stuffed animal she calls "Ni-ni"

2. Yogart (she can't get enough of it)

3. Playing outside (bring on the good weather!)

4. Climbing up on and rocking herself in the rocking chair

5. When Daddy comes home (she runs and gives him a big hug and a kiss)

6. Necklaces and jewlery (she is a girl through and through)

7. Taking a Bath (whenever we say bath Brenna runs into the bathroom and waits for the water to turn on. She loves playing in the water)


8. Shoes (Brenna will spend hours trying to put on her own shoes. She has yet to accomplish it, but she is very determined.)

9. Kissing everything (from our cheeks to our knees, or her book or the wall or the broom, everything is loved with a kiss.)

10. Books, books and more books! (Ever since she was little Brenna has loved looking at books and she still spends most of her time with book after book.)

Drive in Movie

This week has been full of fun memories for us. Brandon and I are now serving the singles ward in our stake and on Monday we had a "drive in movie" for Family Night. Last week each member in our ward painted and decorated cardboard boxes to be cars and then this week we all sat in them and watched an old black and white movie. We even had car hops come around and deliver hamburgers and hot dogs and popcorn to us in our cars. Our family made a fire truck we all could sit in together. We won the "lifesaver" award. Brenna had so much fun looking out the windows and eating the popcorn. It was a blast. We are really enjoying being in this ward.






Here are a few of the other awesome cars!

A Winter Walk

The other day we took a little winter walk as a family. It felt so good to be out in the fresh air, even if it was cold. Brenna loved walking around on the sidewalk. Everything was so interesting to her. She loved feeling the snow on her mittens and feeling the bark on the trees. I can't wait until it warms up so we can spend more time outside. We walked down to the ice rink they have made down in Merrill Olsen Park this year. We didn't have any skates but we walked around and enjoyed the view of the temple and watched others skate. It was such a fun winter scene.

So many Holidays...so little time!

This year the holiday season was packed full of fun. We celebrated Christmas, a couple birthdays, New Years and took a getaway vacation all within just a few weeks. It has been crazy but we have loved it! We couldn't have done it all without the help from our families. Thank you!!!

We spent Christmas with Brandon's family this year. It was great to have all this siblings and their families together. We even had a visit from Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. It was a fun surprise. It was a delight to watch Brenna enjoy her first Christmas. She loved opening presents and was completely spoiled by all of us. I think our little apartment will soon be getting too small for all her toys. Uh-oh!

While we were on Christmas break Brandon and I took a little relaxing getaway down to Las Vegas to spend some time with just the two of us. We left Brenna with her Grandma and Grandpa Monson for a couple days and had a great time seeing all the beautiful and over the top casinos/hotels there. We had a lot of fun. This is a picture of us inside the Paris. The ceiling was amazing! We both missed Brenna a lot, but it was really nice to have some time away together.


We also celebrated Brandon and Brenna's birthdays. I can't believe it has been a year since Brenna was born. It seems like forever ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday. We had Grandma Nilson, Aunt Kati, and Grandpa Nilson over for some cake and ice cream. Brenna throughly enjoyed her cake as you can see. She is so full of energy and is a total ham. She loves to make us laugh and has made this whole year so memorable and bursting with joy!



We hope 2009 will bring even more happiness and incredible moments and memories as we have had in 2008. We have so much to be thankful for!

Christmas is Coming!!! Hooray!

 

This time of year sure gets crazy doesn't it?  We have been so excited for Christmas this year.  I love the lights, the tree, the carols, the gift giving, the family time, and the focus on the Savior's birth and His life.  It truly is "the most wonderful time of the year."  

Brenna has been keeping us busy too.  She is such a funny little girl.  She is very close to walking.  She has taken a few steps on her own and can stand for a few seconds all by herself.  She loves to entertain people with her hilarious faces.  She loves it when she can get you to laugh.  She is also talking quite a bit.  She loves to jabber to herself constantly.  She says words like "baah" for ball, "wa-wa" for water, "bye-bye", "rrahht" for light, and "tu-tu" for "thank you".  Hopefully she will have more of her teeth for Christmas this year.  She has been battling some awful teething troubles lately.  She has had three teeth coming in all at once and one of them has caused a blood blister on her gum.   The doctor said is is normal, but it sure has been painful for her.  We will all be grateful when they all finally break through.  Other than that we are all doing well and look forward to seeing our families and friends for  the holidays.  It will be a fun first Christmas for Brenna.   

We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  

We Love Halloween!

We had a fun Halloween this year. Brenna dressed up like a little tiger for her first Halloween. I dressed up like a queen and Brandon went all out as Dracula, face paint and all. He looked very spooky. It is becoming a tradition for him to transform into a Halloween creature. Last year he and I were mummies, and the year before that we were Frankenstein and his bride. Lets just say we love dressing up for Halloween around here. We spent the day making some more spooky pretzel treats to take around to some friends and then we went to a spook alley up in North Logan that my mom's cousin puts on. It was really creative and fun. Grandma Nilson and Great Grandma Barton and Aunt Kati came to visit too. Brenna entertained us all with her rocking horse and her funny faces. It was a "spooktacular" weekend.